Craig Schwartz News

Embodied by the exciting Ann Noble and surrounded by a solid cast, Richard and his dastardly deeds are every inch at home within the world of Guillermo Cienfuegos’s sweet and seedy production of RICHARD III for A Noise Within.

What did our critic think of ON BECKETT at Shakespeare Theatre?

Here's my interview with director Guillermo Cienfuegos and Richard III star Ann Noble about their vision for the production.

Production photos have been released for RICHARD III, which begins performances this Saturday at A Noise Within. The production is a streamlined staging of William Shakespeare’s Richard III, reimagined in 1970s Britain and directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos.

Performances of On Beckett, conceived and performed by Bill Irwin (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Sesame Street), will begin next week at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Currently in previews, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” — the second play in Wilson’s extraordinary 10-play “American Century Cycle” and the sixth in A Noise Within’s commitment to stage them all — opens at A Noise Within this weekend. Check out photos of the production.

Staged with take-no-prisoners verve by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, Richard Bean’s romp of a play is a joyride through a 60s England in which would-be actors ham it up gleefully, blondes are dizzy, would-be lovers are temporarily thwarted, and positively everybody is ready to cut loose to the strains of a Beatles-inspired skiffle band.

Featuring a cast who seamlessly transport us to a working-class Dublin community in 1964 – with music to match – ANW’s production spotlights not just its leading player, but pens a love letter to the lure of the stage

Director Carolyn Ratteray infuses the poignant memory play with shards of humor that undermine the story’s power and its heartbreak

Step into 1960s Dublin, where an amateur theater group and its passionate leader attempt to bring Oscar Wilde’s Salome to life against all odds. “A Man of No Importance,” Check out the photos, below.

While a complicated and creative adaptation, the production ultimately suffers from a lack of energy and a tonal inconsistency that is hard to reconcile.

Mystery and romance abound in one of the most thrilling Gothic romance novels ever written – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The heart wrenching tale of an orphaned girl’s self-determination, adapted by Elizabeth Williamson, continues at A Noise Within in Pasadena, helmed by the theater’s artistic director Geoff Elliott. I spoke with him about his vision for the show.

Adapted for the stage by Elizabeth Williamson from the classic novel by Charlotte Brontë, “Jane Eyre” will open this weekend at A Noise Within in a new production filled with mystery and romance. See photos of the production.

A new production of “Macbeth,” directed by Andi Chapman and set against the haunting backdrop of New Orleans from the late 19th century through the 1920s, opens this weekend at A Noise Within in Pasadena. See photos here!

Barely six months since braving Wilson's KING HEDLEY II, the company and director Gregg T. Daniel are back an impactful - if leisurely – PIANO LESSON. Where HEDLEY was grim, this one is ghostly, rueful and full of music.

Currently in previews, “The Piano Lesson” — the fourth play in Wilson’s extraordinary 10-play “American Century Cycle,” the second to win a Pulitzer Prize, and the fifth in A Noise Within’s commitment to stage them all — opens at A Noise Within this weekend. See photos from the production below. 

The Skin of Our Teeth is an astonishing production of the classic play at A Noise Within through September 29th.  It is insatiably alive with sharp-fanged wit, whimsical thoughtfulness, and improbable wonder.  The Skin of Our Teeth is audaciously satirical, but also earnest its incandescent meditation on the eternal human cycle of apocalypse and overindulgence.

A Noise Within opened its 2024-25 “True Grit” season last weekend with “The Skin of Our Teeth,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning, time-bending comic romp by Thornton Wilder that’s a testament to the indomitable spirit of humanity. See photos from the production.

Misalliance is a delight, a breezy, witty, carefree period romp and delectable social satire set on the sprawling Surrey estate of underwear tycoon John Tartleton.

Eight marriage proposals and a plane crash, all in one afternoon. Now in previews, George Bernard Shaw’s high-flying comedy “Misalliance” opens this weekend at A Noise Within in a production directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos. See photos from the production below.